Memorial of Saint Cajetan

Memorial of Saint Cajetan, Priest

Speculum Iustitiae Conference for Canon and Civil Lawyers

Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, Wisconsin 7 August 2024

Sir 2, 7-11

Ps 112, 1-2. 3-4. 5-6. 7-8. 9

Lk 12, 32-34

Homily

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The late Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, renowned canon lawyer and one of my teachers in the Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical Gregorian University in the early 1980s, lived, during the last years of his life, in the same Vatican apartment building as I do. From time to time, we would meet at the elevator and take the occasion to discuss the state of the Church, as good Cardinals should be doing. More than once, he repeated to me this wisdom: If the Church gets two things right, everything else will be right: the appointment of Bishops and the conduct of the seminaries. I often recall his words, reflecting on their truth which is indeed evangelical, rooted in the example of Our Lord Who, from the first moment of His Public Ministry, called aside the Apostles and, during His Public Ministry, formed them to act in His person as Head and Shepherd of the flock at every time and in every place. By His words and deeds, Our Lord, the Good Shepherd, showed us the irreplaceable service of Bishops and their principal co-workers, the priests, in the hierarchical communion which is His Mystical Body on earth, the Church.

The Church will always experience attacks from both within and without, but, if she is guided by good shepherds, she can be confident of the victory of Divine Truth and Love. The good shepherd, in fact, teaches us, most of all, to follow Christ on the way of the Cross and to trust, as He trusted, in the victory over sin and death. How often, when we are distressed by the situation of the Church and the world, we should listen again to Divine Wisdom incarnate in Our Lord:

Consider the ancient generations and see: who ever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame? Or who ever persevered in his commandments and was forsaken? Or who ever called upon him and was overlooked? For the Lord is compassionate and merciful; he forgives sins and saves in time of affliction, and he is the shield of all who seek him in truth.[1]

Saint Cajetan whose memory we celebrate today, an expert in both civil and canon law, understood the truth about the irreplaceable service of a worthy clergy in the Church and, at the same time, demonstrated an heroic trust in God and in His promises.

Our Lord confirmed Saint Cajetan’s trust in a manner connected with the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Snow, the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, which we celebrated on this past Tuesday. Blessed Ildefonso Schuster recalls the miraculous sign in his commentary on today’s feast:

Christian Rome venerates him [Saint Cajetan] as one of her most distinguished citizens. The Liberian Basilica in particular evokes the memory of the Mass which he celebrated with seraphic fervour at the crib of our Lord, when he merited the grace of holding the divine Infant in his arms.[2]

Saint Cajetan could easily have been overcome by the corruption of the secular clergy of his time, a corruption associated with the capital sins of greed and lust. He founded the first institute of Clerks Regular for the reform of the clergy and, thereby, the reform of the faithful. He is a powerful example for us and help to us in dealing with the fear and anxiety which often assail us, especially when we confront the darkness and sin which seem more and more to envelop the world and compromise the mission of the Church. In the midst of crisis, he teaches us to respond as Our Lord exhorts, namely, to put aside our useless fears, to have complete trust in God the Father Who, in God the Son Incarnate, has given “the Kingdom”[3] to us.

As we who are canonists and civil lawyers complete our annual time together, dedicated, in particular, to the Church’s discipline regarding the Holy Priesthood, let us renew our prayer for good and holy Bishops and priests. In our daily prayer for Pope Leo XIV, let us pray that Our Lord will enlighten and direct him in the appointment of Bishops. In our daily prayer for Bishops, let us pray that, in their devotion to the good of the entire flock confided to their care, they will care, above all, for the seminaries, for, only through the education of good and holy priests will the Bishops be effectively the Sacrament of the Pastoral Charity of Christ in the world.

Let us now lift up our hearts, one with the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, recognizing in the love of Christ our greatest treasure. Let our hearts be totally in the Heart of Jesus for the glory of God and for our eternal salvation.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE

[1] Sir 2, 10-11.

[2] “Roma Cristiana lo venera come uno dei suoi concittadini di elezione. In particular modo, la basilica Liberiana ricorda ancora la sua messa al Presepio del Signore celebrata con fervore di serafino, quando meritò d’accogliere fra le braccia il Divin Pargoletto.” A. I. Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum. Note storiche e liturgiche sul Messale Romano, Vol. VIII, 2^a ed. (Torino-Roma: Casa Editrice Marietti, 1932), p. 151. English translation: Ildefonso Schuster, The Sacramentary (Liber Sacramentorum): Historical and Liturgical Notes on the Roman Missal, Vol. IV (Parts 7 and 8), tr. Arthur Levelis-Marke (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1929), pp. 422-423.

[3] Lk 12, 32.